Art is the single language that humanity understands. Having said that, it is not always that you are able to express your art unless you find a specific tool for that. For instance, the craft of acting is as much a collection of different, well-honed skills as it is talent. While you may or may not be able to control talent, skills can be learnt, developed, and harnessed for a lifetime. Actor, Dan Cade AKA Roberto from Netflix’s Van Helsing certainly believes so.

From French to American to Icelandic, and more, each of Cade’s films and TV shows has distinct settings. This means he has worked with various accents and dialects. Additionally, Dan Cade has also been training as a martial artist ever since his childhood. Let’s find out how these abilities worked in his favor for the many roles he has embodied.

How does Dan Cade deal with different accents?

With an impressive roster of varying roles in his arsenal, Dan Cade had to incorporate various accents for his diverse roles. In a conversation with NetflixJunkie, Cade opened up about how he managed to get it right. Owing it to a combination of learning on the job and “various sorts of drama schools, ” he called it a “learning process.”

Cade illustrated that he “started pretty young,” and the accents “developed over the years and on different jobs.” Adding to that, he says, “You get a dialect coach as you get used to the accent. So the more you do it, the more you practice and learn the sort of mouth movements.” With all his training, the process was “fairly easy,” for the British actor and he “just worked on the techniques.”

How did martial arts help Cade with his roles?

Similar to accent training, Dan Cade can flaunt another major skill: Martial arts. When asked more about it, he said, “The Martial arts training was a lifelong training.” Harnessing it since the tender age of 6, it is something he does even today. “It’s a natural movement in me. So, you know, I’ve been doing it all my life. You have to work hard to keep it up.”

Talking about his role in the Netflix show, Van Helsing, Dan plays a vampire hunter. When asked if his expertise in martial arts helped him with the physically challenging role, he replied in the affirmative. “Because I’ve done it for so long, my movement is pretty, pretty good. And I’m very controlled,” said Cade about this dexterity with the physical art form.

Apart from action sequences, the training also helped Cade with the movement and the precision to hit your mock and be very smooth in the frame. This rang true for all the sword fighting he did for Van Helsing.

What are some other skills that can aid actors in enhancing their performance? Let us know in the comments below. Meanwhile, you can check for yourself how much weight Dan Cade’s skills hold by watching him on Netflix’s Van Helsing.